Harness



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. M. L. KNOWLES.

HARNESS.

N 5 ,81 Patented Aug. 13, 1895.

(No Mbdel. 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M. LJKNOWLES.

HARNE$S.

No. 544,310. Patented Aug. 13,1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT O'FEI'QE.

MORTIMER L. KNOWLES, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

HARNESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 544,310, dated August 13, 1895.

Application filed December 13, 1894. Serial No. 531,617- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MORTIMER L. KNOWLES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Harness; and I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descrip tion of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in harness, and more particularly to track-harness or harness for light vehicles.

The objects of my invention are more particularly to provide a harness which will not chafe or gall the horse, which will leave the shoulders, limbs, and muscles of the horse perfectly free and clear and without strain thereupon by the harness, and wherein all the strain will come directly upon the back-saddle pad and girth connected therewith, whereby hitching or hopping may also be prevented.

My invention further embodies the general construction, combination, and arrangement of devices hereinafter specified and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a view in elevation showing the harness in place upon a horse hitched in a sulky. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the martingale and neck-strap. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the underlying pad and its connections. Fig. 4: is a detail view of the springpulley through which the traces pass and its connections. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing a modification of my invention. Fig. 6 is aplan View of certain parts of the harness. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the hippad, showing parts broken away.

I carry out my invention as follows:

A represents a back-saddle pad underlying the saddle-tree or back-strap, said pad A con structed essentially on the principle of a rid ing-saddle pad designed to support the draftstrain upon the traces and holdback-straps and prevent chafing. This underlying pad A may be made of any suitable materials. As shown, it is formed of an under soft pad A, having a leather covering A engaged thereupon in any desired manner, as by sewing the one to the other, as indicated .by the stitching-lines at a, Fig. 6.

A denotes draft-straps of leather secured upon the covering A and provided with metal loops a a A A A A denote additional straps securely fastened upon the covering A and provided with buckles a B denotes the saddletree or back-strap secured upon the saddle A by means of the straps A A A A buckled thereover to hold said back-strap securely in place npon the underlying pad A. I

G 0' denote holdback-straps secured to the forward loops upon the straps A each of said holdback-straps being provided with a shield at its forward end to be sleeved over the forward end of the shafts D of the vehicle. Said shields are provided with a loop C or other device for connecting therewith a safety-girth E to prevent the shield from displacement or from slipping ofi from the'end of the shaft. Said girth also prevents the ends of the shafts from being pulled upward unduly, as is liable to be the case with the ordinary holdbacks.

The back-strap or saddletree B is provided with a girth B, secured in the customary manner.

F denotes an under pad, preferably constructed with a soft pad F, upon which is secured a leather covering F and a strap F provided with a buckle f, a loop f, and with a pulley P. The strap F is buckled over the girth B, forming a loop through which said girth passes.

G denotes a round strap engaged over the pulley f provided with hooks g g at the ex tremities thereof, to which the traces are secured. I

G G denote soft pads protecting the hooks g g.

The safety-girth E passes backward from the shields O and under the girth B, by which it is held firmly in place.

H denotes a spring-pulley engaged upon the shaft D, constructed, essentially, of a leather case H, in which is located a pulley H provided with a spring H These springpulleys are engaged upon the shafts in any suitable way, as by means of a fasteningstrap 71. My invention contemplates using one or more of such pulleys upon each shaft of the vehicle, one such pulley being shown upon a single shaft in Fig. 1 and two such pulleys being shown upon a single shaft in Fig. 5.

J J denote the traces, having their forward ends respectively engaged with the straps A A upon the covering A of the pad A. As shown in Fig. 1, each of the traces J is led rearwardly over a spring-pulley H and thence forward to the strap G, upon which it is hooked. It will be evident that by this arrangement of the traces over the spi'ingpulleys H attached to the shafts I am enabled to entirely dispense with a whiffletree, if desired, the entire strain of the traces being exerted upon the spring-pulleys attached to the shafts. It will furthermore be evident that the strain of each of the traces is distributed, one end of each trace being connected with the pad A, while the opposite end of each trace is engaged with the strap G upon the under pad F beneath the horse. This distribution of the strain upon the harness is an important feature of my invention.

K denotes the martingale, secured with the girth B in the customary way, and at its forward end engaged with a neck-strap L, by which the slipping of the harness backward ispreventcd. Vith the upper portion of the neck-strap may be connected a strap L, engaged over a hook M upon the back-strap B. The pad F is held in place by the girth B.

To prevent hitching and hopping behind, my invention contemplates, where such prevention is desired, the further provision of a hip-pad N, as shown in detail in Fig. 7 and in application in Fig. 5, said hip-pad consisting, essentially, of a leather-covered soft pad N, in which is inclosed a coiled spring N of considerable heft, the spring being provided at each extremity with a hook it. Where this hip-pad is used, the traces J J, after being led through the spring-pulleys H, are then connected at their rear ends with the hooks n of the hip-pad. In this case I prefer to use two of the spring-pulleys H upon each shaft. The use of two such pulleys on each shaft is to bring the direction of the draft of the traces at a desired angle to the back-pad, to keep the vehicle more steady and bring the draft from the back-pad A more nearly on the line similar to that exerted upon an ordinary ridingsaddle.

The spring-pulleys upon the shafts acting in the place of a whiffletree to support the draft is another important feature of my invention. In the form shown in Fig. 1 the strain of the draft is supported upon the backpad A and under pad F, said pads being held in place by the girth B. The strap G,itwill be seen, is movable over the pulley f. The location of the spring-pulleys H upon the shaft, it is evident, governs the angle of the draft of the traces upon the harness.

The traces are engaged with the back-pad A at a point above the shafts, and it will be seen that the pulleys II upon the shafts engage the traces intermediate their ends with the shafts in such a manner as to bring the traces downward from the back-pad atan acute angle to the pad adjacent to the shafts, so that the strain upon the traces is communicated to the back-pad at an acute angle, whereby the strain is exerted upon the back-pad more nearly in a vertical direction, analogous to that exerted upon the back-pad of a ridingsaddle, than where the strain is exerted at or nearer a right angle to the back-pad.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In combination, vehicle shafts, a harness having a back saddle pad A, a back strap B, fastened upon said saddle pad, traces engaged at their forward ends directly with said back saddle pad A independent of the back strap B, above the vehicle shafts, and devices engaging the traces, intermediate their ends, to said shafts whereby the strain of the traces will be communicated directly to the saddle pad at an acute angle to the saddle pad, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination, vehicle shafts, a harness having a back saddle pad A, a back strap B, a girth B, an under pad F, the traces J engaged at one of their extremities directly with said back pad A above the shafts and engageable at their other extremities with said under pad F, holdback straps engaged directly with said back pad, and devices engaging the traces, intermediate their ends, tosaid shafts, whereby the strain of the traces will be communicated directly to the saddle pad at an acute angle to the saddle pad, substantially as set forth.

3. In a harness, the combination of a back saddle pad A formed with a soft pad A and leather covering A draft straps A A secured to the covering A toward the extremities thereof, holdback straps O C secured to the forward ends of said draft straps, traces J J secured to the rear ends of said draft straps, a back pad B, additional straps permanently secured to said covering engaging said back pad upon the saddle pad, and a girth B, the holdback straps and traces being secured directly to the back saddle pad A independent of the back pad 13, substantially as and in the manner set forth.

4. In combination, a harness having the extremities of its traces attached at different points to other parts of the harness rearward of the front portion of the back pad, and shafts provided with pulleys attached thereto to support the draft, said traces led over said pulleys, substantially as set forth.

5. In a harness, the combinationof the back saddle pad A, the back strap B, the under pad F, the girth B, and the traces J engaged at their extremities with said back pad and with said under pad, substantially as set forth.

6. In combination, the back saddle pad A, the back strap 13, the girth B, the traces J engaged at one end to said back pad, shafts, and spring pulleys attached to-said shafts over which said traces are led intermediate their ends, substantially as set forth.

7. In a harness, the combination of the back saddle pad A, the back strap B, the girth B, the hold back straps C G engaged with the back strap at their rear ends, shield C engaged with the forward ends of said hold back straps, and the safety girth E'engageable intermediate its ends under said girth and connected at its extremities with said shields, substantially as set forth.

8. In a harness, the combination of the back saddle pad A, the back strap B, the girth B, the holdback straps and traces engaged with said back pad independent of the back strap, and the safety girth, said hold back straps provided with shields at their forward ends, substantially as set forth.

9. In a harness, the combination of the back saddle pad A, the back strap B, the girth B, the traces J secured to said saddle pad, the hold back straps O secured to the saddle pad, thesafety girth E, the martingale K, and the neck strap L, substantially as set forth.

10. In a harness, the combination of the back pad A, the under pad F provided with a strap G, the back strap B and girth B, and the traces J, said traces each engaged with said back pad and having the opposite extremities engaged with the strap G, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

MORTIMER L. KNOWLES.

Witnesses:

OTTo B. BAENZIGER, MARY A. MARTIN. 

